This invention relates to a precise knife sharpener that is strikingly novel and versatile in that it can sharpen virtually all of the large variety of knives made throughout the world, with widely different edge angles, to create edges of original factory quality. Knives made in multiple locations around the world vary widely in their style, in shape, in the type of metals utilized, in the hardness of the blades, in the contours of the blade faces, the slope of the blade faces, the number of primary facets (one or two), created to form the edge, and most importantly the angle of the primary facets along the knife edge. These wide differences have evolved as a result of the needs of different cultures in local regions. Successive generations have searched for sharper and stronger edges and the sharpening means to create them on the knives that are common to their culture.
In recent years many advanced electrically powered means of sharpening have been introduced in the Western world for use by the general public. In large these have been designed for knives of European or American origin and derivatives of their designs. In Asian countries knives have been sharpened largely by hand and extensive training programs are customary to train artisans and chefs in the complex art of hand sharpening. Serious artisans in Asian countries spend years mastering the art of creating a very sharp knife edge and even with such training spend many minutes or an hour each day sharpening a single sashimi blade. The sharpening of Asian style blades has for many years remained somewhat of an art.
In spite of wide differences in cosmetics, materials of construction, and physical shapes, knives from Asia are generally sharpened at very low edge angles with a primary edge facet centered at about 15°. Knives of European, American or Western countries generally are sharpened at higher angles of about 20° for the primary facet. Knives in Asia have been used widely for fish and softer foods while the Western countries have consumed more meat and tougher foods more difficult to cut. Hence the Western countries have adopted larger angled, 20 degree, edged knives that will hold an edge longer in difficult cutting situations.
The most advanced professional sharpeners available today are precision multistage devices that require 3 successive stages to sharpen just one class of knives.
Because of the dominance of 20° primary facets on knifes in the West virtually all modern precision knife sharpeners have been designed to sharpen knives only at 20° facets. As a consequence those who prefer Asian blades commonly find it necessary to sharpen by hand at the smaller 15° angle.
Recently Asian knives have become more popular in the Western world and these inventors have recently developed and introduced sharpeners that sharpen exclusively knives that have the Asian 15° primary facets. There are also specialized sharpeners for hunting knives. In the face of the growing precision and complexity of these modern specialized precision sharpeners it has not been apparent that any one precision sharpener could be made flexible enough to sharpen both 15° and 20° knives and yet create better than factory quality edges on both. These inventors have however now created a unique household sharpener design that can for the first time sharpen virtually all of the world's very different knives in one sharpener to better than original factory quality.